HORSE RACING

HORSE RACING; Fans Grit Their Teeth Over the Bigger Parimutuel Bite

By JOSEPH DURSO

Published: June 5, 1995

It started innocently enough as Belmont Week opened: the track hostess Mary Ryan sitting with the trainer Lisa Lewis and the jockey Diane Nelson yesterday on the small stage beneath the paddock tote board at Belmont Park, talking engagingly about a woman's life in the world of horse racing.

But after they gave their seats on the stage to Kenny Noe Jr. and Steve Crist, the two ranking business executives at the track, the fantasy of racing's future came to grips with the reality of its present. The first Fan Fair held at Belmont to expose the horse fan to the nuances of the game was transformed into a forum where the horse player could air his gripes. And the chief target was the racing bill approved Friday by the Legislature -- and expected to be signed soon by Gov. George E. Pataki -- that will increase the takeout on a majority of winning bets.

"The economics of the business today make obsolete everything you ever learned about racing 20 years ago," said Noe, the president of the New York Racing Association. "The first time we went to Albany last December, they said we don't have any money. You're not going to get anything without giving something."

Crist, the director of communications for the N.Y.R.A., added: "In a perfect world, we'd love to drop the takeout to 10 percent. But we don't have the money."

Both were forced to dodge bullets fired by players incensed by the new formula for paying off bets. Robert Schroeder of East Rockaway, L.I., fired one such salvo when he commented from the audience:

"Nothing will hurt this game more than upping the takeout. Did you go to Albany and ask for an alternative? Did you suggest cutting executive salaries 10 percent?"

"Yes," Noe conceded, "there is a hit. But we hope to make it up down the road."

Another fan called out: "In racing, you have the horses and the public, and that's all that counts. But you don't take care of the public." Another said: "I've been coming to the track for 45 years. You've got to get three winners now to break even."

Actually, the Legislature reduced the parimutuel tax on the N.Y.R.A. to 3 percent from 4 on regular wagers and to 2.5 percent from 4 on bets involving two horses. The tax on exotic bets involving three or more horses will stay at 7.5 percent. The tax will be paid by N.Y.R.A. to the state every 30 days instead of twice a week, and the net gain for N.Y.R.A. is estimated at $7 million a year.

But the change in the takeout, effective when Saratoga opens July 21, is a mixed bag for bettors. On straight bets, involving one horse to win, place or show, the state will deduct 15 cents on the dollar instead of 17 cents. But on bets on two horses, -- exactas, quinellas and daily doubles -- the takeout will increase to 20 cents on the dollar from 17. On exotic bets, it stays at 25 cents per dollar. Two-horse bets, however, comprise 55 percent of all bets made. This means it will cost the fans $11 million over the year.

This money is taken off the top of the win pool before the odds are calculated by computer; the rest stays in the pool. Thus, the bigger the takeout, the worse the payoff, which is where the protests come in. As for the extra money generated by the bigger takeouts, it will be shared by N.Y.R.A., the off-track betting corporations and the horsemen, who will get $8 million in higher purses.

Crist said later that he did not believe the new takeout formula would change betting patterns. Still, he added, "some players may think of going back to win-place-show betting at 15 percent. And it's the best bet in America."

The dialogue on betting was surrounded by signs of a new openness at Belmont embodied in the Fan Fair, a program aimed at the fan who might want to know more. In recent years, race tracks have been losing live fans while gaining others who bet away from the track, but Noe and Crist have made a pitch to the race-track fan.

They instituted the Fan Fair program to coincide with the Belmont Stakes next Saturday, building it around five open-air shows led by Ryan and Tom Durkin, the track's announcer. Their guests this week will include such trainers as D. Wayne Lukas, Allen Jerkens and Bill Mott, jockeys like Jorge Chavez and Jerry Bailey and even Bobby Duncan, master of the starting gate.